Running the Wild Thing Down
by Allons-y Rosie
Summary: RLSB SLASH! Sirius can't seem to escape naughty Remus-induced thoughts. What happens when they findout their love for each other? What about when that love is compromised by a bitter rival? Marauders era multi chapter. T for now rating may change later
1. Naughty Thoughts and Manliness

**A/N: **Hey there! So I've recently started getting back into this pairing and recovered how much I love Remus and Sirius so I'm starting this story. I'm pretty determined for this to actually be a story that I will finish but I'm not promising anything unless reviewers kick my butt for not updating . Anyways, please review even if it's to light my writing on fire and dance on my grave. I will appreciate it none the less. Onwards!

**Disclaimer:** Honestly if I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't be writing fanfiction now would I? Not mine…sadly…

**Song to Listen to: ** The Bitch of Living from Spring Awakening and if you finish that or don't like it then Totally Fucked from Spring Awakening.

_Is this more than you bargained for yet _

_ Oh don't mind me, I'm just watching you from the closet_

_ Wishing to be the friction in your jeans_

Sugar, We're going down Swinging by Fall Out Boy

Sirius walked into the dorm, dropped his things, and flopped onto Remus' bed with a sigh. It wasn't any reason it was Remus' bed that he chose to fall on, he tried to tell himself. Remus just had the bed closest to the door. It was the shortest distance to walk was all.

_Yes_, he said to himself. It most certainly was not because Remus slept here at night. Nope, _not_ because when he slept he would curl in to that adorable little ball with his muscles all taut and gorgeous. And _definitely _not because in the summer he only slept in boxers and you could see his chest and it looked all sweaty and rugged and scarred…

Sirius groaned miserably and threw an arm over his face. He did not just think the word _rugged_. He wasn't that gay.

_Yet_, a small voice amended in his head. He scowled at the small voice and it shrunk meekly back into its little corner of his mind.

Who was he kidding? He was Sirius Freakin Black, for Merlin's sake! He was the biggest man-whore in all of Hogwart's history! He'd slept with many an attractive girl…and liked it!

Maybe it was a phase. The full moon had ended last night and the last was always the worst for Remus. It was as if the wolf had to get the last dregs of its remaining savagery out therefore making the toll taken on Remus' body more violent and pronounced. It was a terrible struggle, palpable almost. Sirius could see the flashes of his friend in the wolf's eyes quickly swallowed by the animal. It was hard to watch at times. Sirius could only imagine what it was like to actually go through. But maybe this was why he was feeling so…_caring_ towards Moony. It would be a good explanation if anything.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair haphazardly. He was also going to have to explain skipping out of class to Peter, Remus, and James. He knew James would never buy that he didn't feel well. He could lie through his teeth to everyone – McGonagal, Filch, heck even Dumbledore – but James always knew. His poor kids would have a hell of a time trying to get anything past him.

The door opened and James walked in and stood right in front of where Sirius was lying, his arms crossed.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

Sirius sat up to look at his friend then plopped back down again with a barely suppressed groan. He took a deep breath and sat up, forcing an easy going smile as he did so. He wouldn't lie to James. That would be too hard. No, he'd just pretend he was fine and that nothing was bothering him.

"Nothing…just breakfast disagreeing with me, I guess. Urgent and all that," he waved it off. That was the way to go. Make it a personal problem and the interrogation would stop.

James narrowed his eyes behind his glasses but shrugged. Sirius knew he didn't buy it but let the subject drop which he was grateful for.

"Oh well, it's not like you missed much; just some goblins fighting some other goblins about gold and stuff. Test tomorrow though," he added as an afterthought.

The door opened again and Remus entered, undoing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt slightly. Sirius' eyes followed the boy's fingers as he undid each button and watched as a tiny patch of chest became visible as he did so.

_If only _I_ could be the one doing that_, thought the small voice again. Sirius mentally bitch slapped the voice for thinking bad thoughts and for the image that followed and looked at the space above Remus' head instead.

"A test Sirius will fail if he doesn't get today's notes," he said as he went over to Sirius and rolled him off the bed where he fell to the floor unceremoniously.

"He'll pass. He's brilliant without trying anyway," Peter stated with a slightly bitter edge that none of the boys caught.

"Yeah but he sucks at goblin wars," said Remus.

"It's impossible to be _good_ at memorizing goblin wars. They're all named Ragnok the nasty and Blarvak the Bloody and such," James said exasperatedly as he started digging through his bag.

"He still sucks at them."

"It's so comforting to know that I have friends who believe in me and stroke my ego," Sirius said sarcastically from his place on the floor.

Remus nudged him in the shoulder with his foot and Sirius rolled away from him and stood up, brushing his clothes off theatrically.

"I believe in you. I believe that if you spent as much time planning ways to torture Severus –,"

"Snivellus," Sirius and James corrected quickly.

" – as you did studying you wouldn't be failing."

"I am _not _failing!"

"Yes you are," Remus looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Sirius wondered at the sexiness of that look then shook his head to clear the thought away. This whole naughty thoughts business was getting out of hand. Remus was too distracting for his own good. What with the way his bangs fell into one eye and the way the color of his hair and eyes offset each other since they were only two shades away from matching. The way his lips would part slightly when he listened and how he chewed the bottom one after saying something like he was now.

Sirius realized he was waiting for an answer and blinked a few times.

"What?"

"I said I could help you study tonight so you won't fail tomorrow…if you want."

"Oh yeah…sure. What ti –?"

"After we torture Snivellus of course!" James sing-songed happily as he pulled out the Marauders' Map with a triumphant grin.

Sirius smiled and bounded over to where James was sitting on his bed scanning the map.

"Oh good, it's been a while."

"It's been two days," Peter said with a bemused look. Remus nodded at him in agreement.

"Listen Monsieur le Prefect, Snivelly hangs around Lily too much and soon she'll start thinking he's _nice_ and _misunderstood_ and other words girls use unless I interrupt those thoughts by showing her what a real man is," James rambled. Sirius just looked at his best friend with a sympathetic look.

"You don't listen to yourself when you speak, do you?"

"Nope."

"At least he's honest," Remus said as he went through his trunk to get a change of his clothes.

"Where're you going?" Sirius asked.

"Library; meet me there when you're done being 'manly,'" he laughed at his own joke as he took his shirt off to change.

"_Manly"_ the small voice thought as Sirius licked his lips subconsciously at Remus' bare torso.

_If you only knew._

**A/N: **So? Love it? Hate it? Suggestions? I have a pretty good idea of where I want to take this but, as always, suggestions for future chapters are lovely. Just click this cute little green and white button that says Review and write to your heart's content.

Oh! And if Sirius' out of the blue running out of class and all of a sudden crushing on Remus seems random and convenient? That's because it is. I promise you an explanation in later chapters. There is a method to the madness…


	2. Confessions and Frantic Oaths

**A/N: **Hey there my lovely reviewers! Here we are with another chapter. I'm not really that satisfied with how it came out and its sort of long but it's needed for some key plot points later on. So! I shan't keep you waiting any longer!

**Disclaimer: **I promise you that I own nothing and am not making any money off of writing…just sick gratification.

**Songs to listen to: **Teenage Lobotomy by the Ramones for the first part. For the second part, listen to I Want You by Bob Dylan.

_Accept the things to which fate binds you __and love the people with whom fate brings you _

_together, but do so with all your heart – Marcus Aelius Aurelius_

**Chapter 2**

"_Sectumsemp –_"

"_Levicorpus!"_ James and Sirius yelled at the same time, pointing wands at Snape. Their plan to ambush him and temporarily stick pink bows to his hair for a week had backfired horribly.

They'd planned to get him in an empty classroom and stun him but hanging out with his Death Eater friends had made Snape much quicker on his feet that the two boys had anticipated.

Snape scowled at them from upside down in the air and crossed his arms.

"Is this the only spell you idiots know?"

Sirius smirked and walked up to the suspended boy in the haughtiest manner he could muster.

"Nope. Do you know what shampoo is?" James laughed and picked up the box of bows. He waved his wand over them and then pointed it at Snape, making them fly over and stick in his hair.

"You obviously do, Black, considering I could fry chicken with the amount of product that's in your hair."

Sirius smiled and moved his wand, making Snape fall the short distance to the ground with a cry. The boy sat up from the crumpled ground and rubbed his head, looking at the retreating boys' forms.

"Poufter," he spat angrily, smirking when he saw Sirius tense and turn around. The boy started towards him and James held him back, holding his arms.

"Shut your filthy mouth!" Snape's grin widened as he watched Sirius struggle to get to him. He stood up.

"Oh dear, it seems I've touched a nerve."

"You're the one who should talk, bows in your hair and all," James said acidly as he forced Sirius out of the classroom before one of the teachers found them. Snape scowled and stormed out with the ribbons flapping behind him.

Sirius pushed James off of him and walked, quickening his pace. James walked faster until he was in front of his friend. Sirius almost always kept a cool head when insults were thrown around – especially with Snape. James couldn't understand why one petty shot had made him blow up so quickly.

"Alright enough kidding around, what's wrong?" Sirius rolled his eyes and walked ahead.

"Don't know what you mean, mate," he mumbled. James cried out in frustration and pinned Sirius against the wall, arms against his shoulders. Sirius blinked in surprise at the expression on James face. His eyes were fierce and his mouth set. It was his no-fun face and Sirius had only seen it once before - when he'd found out that Sirius had been the one to tell Snape about going to the Shack. He knew there was no getting around the no-fun face.

"You know exactly what I mean now tell me!" What could be bothering his best friend so much that he couldn't talk about it? He opened his mouth in shock when Sirius sunk down the stone wall and sat down on the floor, his head in his hands. James stepped back and knelt in front of him concernedly.

"Sirius?"

"It's bad, Jamie." The bespectacled boy frowned and sat down next to Sirius. He only used "Jamie" when something wrong.

"Oh, well…how bad?"

"Like bad and strange and not…_normal_, especially for me." James sighed and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"Look, Sirius whatever it is we're still friends. Best friends. Okay? Brothers? Remember?" James could tell Sirius was smiling by the way his cheeks moved and the boy looked up, studying James face for a moment. He sighed heavily, ran a hand through his hair, then:

"I'm…_gay_."

James looked like he'd been slapped for a moment then composed his face again, blinking rapidly.

"What?" he dead panned. Sirius looked away.

"Don't make me say it again. You heard me."

"Yeah," James whispered. There was a tense moment of silence where Sirius was sure he was going to run away but James stayed with his hand on his shoulder. He could tell he was thinking hard about something, his brows were furrowed and he was chewing on the inside of his cheek. Sirius swallowed and looked down.

"Well why is that _bad_?" James demanded angrily, making him look up. Sirius stared at him blankly for a moment and then laughed, breaking the awkward tension for the moment. They both sat there laughing until they were clutching their sides in the utter hilarity of the moment and tears were coming out of their eyes.

"I'm _serious_, though. Why is that so bad?"

"Actually _I'm_ Sirius."

"…Worst pun ever."

"Sorry."

"It's okay but why would you think I'd care?" Sirius shrugged.

"Not sure but you're really not weirded out by it or anything?" Sirius wasn't prepared for the hug James enveloped him in but embraced him back none the less. James let go somewhat embarrassed and walked on.

"I don't care, but if I catch you looking at my arse, consider our friendship compromised." Sirius snorted derisively and rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry… you won't catch me," he joked as he dodged a cuff on the head from James.

"You are so lucky I know that was a joke," James laughed with a tone of warning in his voice. Sirius laughed, the sound feeling good in his throat. He felt as if he could breathe around James again. He'd known about being his being gay for a while but saying it still made him uncomfortable. He was just glad it was over with and he could just be himself again.

"You really are the most egotistical git I know."

"Yeah right, Mr. Hair Obsessed."

"Shut up! It's not my fault it has natural shine and bounce," he said pushing James playfully.

Sirius' indignation echoed down the long empty corridor as they walked and their laughter echoed.

Severus Snape snuck out from where he'd been hiding, eyes wide and mouth agape at what he'd just heard. Sirius Black was a poufter. He liked men. Sirius Black, the biggest ladies man in Hogwarts, was a dirty shirtlifter.

Every way Severus tried to phrase it in his mind sounded…_wrong_ somehow. Of course, he couldn't really care less where one of his enemies' preferences was held. It didn't really matter to him. And yet…

He grinned evilly as an idea came to him and he hurried off to the Slytherin common room, barely containing his glee.

**Part II**

Remus was sitting at one of the large tables in the library, hand holding up his head and lazily scanning the huge book laid out in front of him. He had no idea _why_ he kept rereading the same sentence over and over again, however he knew it probably had to have something with Sirius' arms. He smiled dewily at the page he was reading and turned it without knowing why.

Sirius' arms with his shirt sleeves rolled up were probably the most fetching thing Remus had ever seen in his entire life. They just looked so strong and tanned, like you could wrap them around you and lay against his chest forever. Which, Remus admitted to himself, was probably as equally beautiful and muscled.

Then there was his laugh. It was so bark-like and rolling that it made Remus want to always laugh with him. It also made him wonder how Sirius would sound as he cam - .

There was a loud thud next to him and Remus jumped, giving a high pitched yelp. Lily stood next to him, looking down with a raised eyebrow and rusty hair pulled up in a sensible bun. She'd evidently dropped a book next to him on the table, resulting in the loud thud.

"Oh, hi Lily," Remus said, a little flustered as he was forced out of his reverie. Lily rolled her eyes and sat down next to him.

"_Now_ I get a response. I was standing in front of you for a good five minutes." Remus blushed and looked down angrily. What was he, a school girl now? Sure he was gay, but blushing was stupid and Remus Lupin was _not_ stupid.

"Another Sirius fantasy I'm guessing?" Lily said knowingly and nudged him in the shoulder. Remus tried to hide his smile but failed and looked up at the redhead begrudgingly.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Well, you were practically drooling all over the table _and_," she flipped the book he was supposedly reading.

"_This _was upside down," she laughed and Remus groaned, rubbing his temples, frustrated.

"Lily, it's getting worse. I can barely concentrate; what with him, and his _arms_, and his voice, and his smile and -." He was cut off as Lily covered his mouth with her hand.

"Down boy."

"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly at her then sighed.

Anyway, I've missed too much school as it is. I'll never get through seventh year if this keeps up!"

"Remus!" Lily grabbed both sides of his head in her hands, effectively silencing his rambling. She looked him in the eye sternly.

"Listen to me. You are one of the cleverest people I know. _You. Will. Graduate. _Cross that off your list of worries right now," she let go of his face and took hold of his hand instead. Remus smiled slightly at her vote of confidence. The weight of her hand in his felt friendly and warm; a comforting presence amidst the confidence. It was no wonder James loved her so much. Heck, if he wasn't gay he'd probably try for Lily too. Fortunately his affections were for his other friend. Or, _unfortunately_, depending how you looked at it.

"You're right Lils. Thanks."

"Of course I'm right," she brushed off.

"Now, what are you going to do about Sirius?" Remus' smile faded and he grimaced. This was the question he'd been dreading.

"Nothing, probably," Lily's hand disappeared from his in a flash as she slapped him upside the head. Remus winced and rubbed the spot.

"Bloody hell! What -?"

"So let me get this straight. You're crazy about Sirius but you won't do anything about it? You'd prefer living in misery your whole life, watching him be happy with someone else when you know he's the only one who you will ever love?"

Lily looked at Remus, green eyes flashing dangerously as she waited for an answer. He had to admit that she was right. He'd never felt about another boy the same way he felt about Sirius. His heart beat quicker whenever he caught a glimpse of the signature, just-been-shagged, raven hair in the hall. He could barely think straight when he got too near to him and when he touched Sirius it was like…_fire_. As if by the mere brush of Sirius' hand his blood had been replaced with molten lava. He should tell him. He _would _tell him. He'd go right now to the dorm, run to Sirius and proclaim his…undying…

Reality sunk in then. Sirius wasn't gay. At all. He only considered Remus a friend. Granted they were best friends, but that wasn't enough to warrant Remus' wanting a relationship. If he told Sirius he'd be weirded out. They'd cease to be close. A horrible thought came to Remus: what if Sirius never touched him again? He shuddered inwardly.

"Yes," Remus said finally. Lily's eyes widened, disbelieving.

"What do you mean 'yes'?"

"Yes. I will do just that. I will never compromise my friendship with Sirius for my own benefit. It's not worth it," he shrugged sadly.

"Don't start the martyr act with me! Love and happiness are worth everything, Remus," Lily said fiercely.

"I can't do it, Lily! I don't want to lose him!"

"Why are you being so negative? How do you know he'll say no?" Remus gave her a withering look.

"The only girl he hasn't tried anything with is you and that's only because of James." At the mention of James' name Lily stood up furiously and slammed her hands on the table.

"Remus John Lupin, I swear on my life that you and Sirius Black will be together by the end of this year if it's the last thing I _do_!"

"If what's the last thing you do?" Sirius asked innocently. Remus jumped at his friend's sudden appearance and Lily screamed and threw her hands up in frustration before storming out. Sirius took her vacated seat and sat down next to Remus.

"What's she on about?" Remus shook his head and opened his notes on goblin wars.

"No idea, mate."

**A/N: **So what do you think? Good? Bad? Let me know, dammit! Also, are there any songs you guys think would fit with this story because Lord knows I'm having quite a time trying to find good ones. I have so many ideas for this and now that I finally have a plot in the works I can really get started. Also, sorry for the lack of puppy loving at the moment (you seriously have no idea how much I'm itching to write some good old fashioned Remus/Sirius smut). I have so many songs that will be great for those particular chapters. Sorry for any grammatical errors as well! Reviews are life blood!


	3. Rolling Kisses and Regulus Blackmail

**A/N: **Happy Earth Day, everyone!! Before we begin, I want to add a special shout out for my girl Hannah Banana for her 17th birthday today! I would like to dedicate this chapter to her because she very kindly puts up with my manic RL/SB rambling everyday on the bus. Also because she puts up with me complaining about the angsty-ness I'm putting the puppies through in this particular chapter (and because she has beautiful, flowing, black hair like Sirius ). Happy Birthday!

**Disclaimer: **Honestly, if I owned this they'd all be gay. Obviously this is not the case… (Sniff).

**Suggested Listening: **Hash Pipe by Weezer and/or Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd (The Radio head cover of this is quite good, too).

_Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs,  
Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes,  
Being vexed, a sea nourished with lovers' tears.  
What is it else? A madness most discreet,  
A choking gall and a preserving sweet._

_William Shakespeare_

**Chapter Three**

"Okay now, who was the son of Grelnok the second?"

"Um, Grelnok the Third?" Sirius guessed at the question. Remus blinked in exhaustion and surprise.

"Actually yes, that is the answer," he yawned. It seemed as if they'd been there for hours. The library was deserted but the underlying tension throughout the entire session could've been cut with a knife. Sirius didn't know if he was imagining it, but he felt almost nervous to be spending this much alone time with Remus. It was strange knowing that you wanted someone but not being able to do anything about it – especially for him.

"I got one right?"

"Yes."

"I'm shocked."

"Me, too." Sirius narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Thanks," he said sarcastically as he stretched hugely. Remus' eyes followed his friend's movements, watching as his shirt rode up slightly, flashing a patch of flat stomach and a trail of dark fuzz leading down to disappear into his pants. Remus bit his lip to stifle a groan and quickly looked back at his notes.

_Bad thoughts, bad thoughts_, he thought, panic stricken. _Okay, think of something nasty – Snape wanking! _The boy mentally scolded himself for coming up with an image so disgusting but it did the trick in bringing down his arousal meter.

He sighed with relief and Sirius turned to look at him with a concerned look on his face.

"Alright, Moony?"

"Yeah, just tired I guess. My furry little problem isn't really conducive to crap loads of homework." Sirius laughed his strange laugh and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, we could always just quit and go to bed."

"What?" Remus said, startled by the implication.  
"To _sleep_," Sirius stated slowly. He laughed uneasily at Remus' outburst, and then grinned, a mischievous glint in his light eyes.

"Or _not_ sleep, depending on what you're in the mood for," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Well, I would but I'm afraid my moral backbone would not allow it… plus I'm tired," he started to get up and gather his things.

"Plus, you're inexperienced," Sirius added with the air of saying something very unfortunate and sad. Remus made an outraged noise and dropped his books at the comment. Sirius laughed at the reaction his joke had caused. Usually Remus wasn't so jumpy but he'd been so all night. He'd practically leapt out of his chair when Sirius had bent over his lap to retrieve a fallen quill. He had to admit, however, that he almost enjoyed making Remus uncomfortable. Now that he'd finally admitted to James about being gay, he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. Of course, being with Remus always made him feel happy – like he could just be himself with no exceptions…

He pushed the thought away and bent down to help Remus pick up his books.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly and he glanced up through his bangs at Remus who was scowling as if he was having some kind of huge internal argument.

"Sirius, I'll have you know that you aren't the only one who's –," he stopped short as he looked up and was met with Sirius face. Close. Too close. Inches apart; staring into eyes so pale blue they looked almost blind.

Sirius' eyes clouded over and he leaned forward almost imperceptibly, eyes darting from Remus' eyes to his lips.

"Remus," he whispered almost fearfully, an overtone of want clouding it as he leant in.

"Sirius, I –"

"There you two are!" Peter blustered over dramatically. The two boys broke apart and Sirius roughly handed Remus his fallen books in his haste.

"It's nearly one in the morning. What were you doing?"

"Nothing!" they both answered quickly. Sirius gave a warning sideways glance at Remus and shrugged, his Marauder lying skills coming in handy.

"Studying, why?"

"Just wondering."

"Aw, did ickle Petey get scared for his friends?"

"No!" Peter protested defensively.

"It's okay, Pete. We'll be up in a second," Remus said kindly. Peter nodded and left. Sirius shook his head at Peter's retreating, jiggly form and ran a hand through his hair, pushing his fringe back. He smiled crookedly, one side of his mouth lifting up in a lopsided grin.

"Christ, does that boy know how to ruin a moment," he turned around to look at Remus who was standing with his books clutched to his chest, looking as if someone had died. Sirius' smile faltered and he put a hand out to touch Remus' shoulder. Remus flinched back from the touch, a confused expression on his face as though he was thinking very hard.

"Moony?" Sirius asked tentatively. Remus shook his head and forced a smile at his friend.

"I'm fine. Sorry," he said, embarrassed. Sirius didn't look convinced.

"S'okay," he said slowly as he started to walk, with Remus holding his books so tightly his knuckles were white. Sirius sighed softly. Unless he'd just hallucinated, he could've sworn they'd been about to kiss before Peter wobbled in. They'd been so close! Unless he was imagining things…? Maybe it was just the insanity from the Black genes kicking in. He knew it would only be a matter of time before the generations of inbreeding affected him.

He looked at Remus who looked like he was gonna throw up. His heart sank. It was all his fault. He shouldn't have leaned; he should've been able to reign in his feelings better.

Maybe he wasn't gay. Maybe he just hadn't found the right girl yet. That was it! It had to be. He'd been too hasty telling James and the whole thing would blow over. It was just a phase. Moony would never love him anyway, so what was the point in even liking blokes?

He scuffed his heel on the floor dejectedly as they walked and put his hands in his pockets. Something about it didn't feel right but…he had to make sure. He had to know or else well, he'd go mad.

He remembered something just then and lifted his head to look at Remus.

"Hey, Moony?" Remus looked up at him, his hair in his right eye from staring at the ground. Sirius' heart jolted at the sight but he repressed it.

"Yeah?"

"What were you going to say before… um…?" he grimaced, not sure how to word the moment they'd had without making it awkward. Remus seemed to realize this.

"Before peter came in?" he suggested brightly.

"Yeah, that," Sirius whispered. Remus blushed a bit and looked down, grinning, happy to be talking and not dwelling.

"Just that I'm not inexperienced," he said, laughing at the expression on his companion's face. Sirius looked pleasantly surprised. He smirked.

"And I haven't been informed of your deflowering, _why_?"

"Well, you never asked." Sirius gave him a look as if to say "Really?" but quickly replaced it with excitement at the new information.

"I'm asking now! And I want details, Moonshine!" he said, practically bouncing with glee. This was where he was comfortable – being the proud best friend. He could be happy for Remus. It just further proved how wrong he was in _thinking_ that he was in love with him. _Of course,_ the furious pounding in his head was because he was genuinely happy. It _certainly _was_ not_ because he was jealous of some slutty, no good, skanky bird. Nope. It was a phase, a _stupid pha_ –

"I doubt you're really interested in guy on guy, Pads."

Sirius stopped short and looked at Remus. The sandy haired boy was looking at him earnestly, willing him to understand with his eyes, a serious look on his face. Sirius laughed, unsure and he ran a hand through his hair, his nervous habit.

"Sorry Rem, for a second I thought –."

"I'm gay, Sirius," Remus stated firmly. He didn't even care anymore. Remus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't care if anyone knew – except for Sirius. The moment he'd thought they were going to kiss he'd felt something. He didn't know what it but it had made him feel lighter somehow; warm.

"Look, I know you might be freaked out but everyone knows so… I just didn't want you to hear it second hand from someone else. I'd rather you hear it from me," he exhaled and looked at Sirius who looked very pale. Something flashed in his eyes (hurt?) and he took a step back. He started at Remus disbelievingly.

"Everyone knows?" he asked, breathless. Remus nodded.

"James, Peter, Lily - ,"

"You told _Evans_ before you told _me_?" he asked, hurt and anger clouding his voice.

"Sirius, what's –,"

"I'm your _best friend_, Remus! Why am I the last to know?" He was angry. All of his pining for Remus and no one bothered to tell him he was gay?

_You haven't told anyone that you love Remus, you twat_, said the small voice reasonably. Sirius paused, the voice had a point… but Remus had still left him out of the loop. It wasn't fair! He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. The last thing he needed right now was a fight.

"How long?"

"How long, what?"

"How long have they known, Remus?" The werewolf swallowed thickly. This would be bad.

"About a month and a half." Sirius blanched and sat down on the floor. Remus sat next to him and bit his lip.  
"I understand why you're angry. I should've told you sooner. I just… I didn't know how you would react. I guess I wanted to practice saying it to other people first. It's weird hearing it come out of your mouth, you know?" he half smiled and Sirius nodded.

"I know." Remus furrowed his brows.

"You do?" Sirius scolded himself for the slip and shook his head, still shocked at what he was hearing.

"Well I mean I can only assume," he laughed nervously; looking at Remus who nodded and took his hand. Sirius raised his eyebrows at the action but didn't move to take it away. What was Remus playing at?

"I need to know you're okay with this." Sirius laughed again, louder and happier now.

"Remus, I don't care that you're a _werewolf_," he saw the boy flinch at the word but continued.

"Why would I care if you're gay?" Remus smiled broadly and before he knew it, he was being tackled to the ground in a rib cracking hug. He felt all the air fly out of his lungs but hugged Remus back, just happy that the awkward moment was over.

_The fact that he's practically straddling you probably helps, too,_ the small voice stated matter- of- factly. He tucked the voice's logic aside for a moment and just reveled in the contact.

"You know Moony, I never took you for the dominant type," Sirius joked. Remus rolled his eyes then smiled, said eyes twinkling dangerously.

"Well then," he rolled the two of them so Sirius was on top.

"You take it," he laughed at the bewildered look on the rave haired boy's face. However, his smile faded as Sirius grinned mischievously; he rolled again. Remus on top now.

"I couldn't possibly, Monsieur Moony. You started it." Remus rolled them. Sirius on top.

"And you can end it." Another roll.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly." And another.

"Please, I insist," Remus said politely from under Sirius who laughed again as he rolled them. They were flushed and panting, laughing every now and then. He reached up and moved a strand of hair away from Remus' eyes, letting his hand pause on his cheek. Remus stopped laughing, his eyes glazing over for a moment.

Before he could think about it, Sirius reached up and kissed Remus once on the mouth. He stayed raised on his elbows, eyes wide in shock at what he'd just done. Remus blinked in surprise and frowned.

"Moony, I'm sorry. I -," he didn't finish. Remus had grabbed the back of his hair and crashed his lips against Sirius'. It was like being electrified, like they couldn't get close enough even with their chests slammed together, legs entwined almost painfully, and hands everywhere. Remus gasped as Sirius' tongue found a scar on his collarbone and he grasped the boy's hair painfully. He pulled his mouth back to his own and nipped Sirius' bottom lip, accidentally cutting it. He licked the blood away and Sirius moaned loudly into his mouth, a sound Remus knew he wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

"Well, well, well it seems you were right Severus," a cold voice said from the other end of the corridor. Sirius' eyes flew open and Remus rolled off of him and they stood up.

Regulus was standing there with Snape right behind him, grinning from ear to ear. Remus was struck at how much the two brothers resembled each other and didn't at the same time. They had the same sleek, black hair, eyes, and mouth, but where Sirius was solid and athletic from Quidditch, Regulus was whipcord thin and sickly pale. Remus narrowed his eyes at the boys and palmed his wand.

"My brother _is_ a poufter." Sirius rolled his eyes at his younger sibling, trying to appear nonchalant but Remus could see the tension in his jaw.

"What are you on about, Reggie?"

"Don't call me that!" Regulus bristled at the childhood nickname.

"Fine, _Regulus_," Sirius spat the name and continued.

"What do you want?" Regulus leaned against the wall and inspected his nails indifferently.

"Well, Severus here overheard you and your boy James talking about a certain something. Oh, what was it?" he tapped a finger on his chin in mock thought. Sirius clenched his fists at his sides, his knuckles going cocaine white with the effort it took to not rip his brother and Snivellus into the smallest pieces he could manage. They wouldn't do this to him. Not in front of Remus. He glanced at his companion. Remus gave him a puzzled look but otherwise didn't say anything.

Regulus snapped his fingers and glared at Sirius.

"Oh yes…your sexuality."

"Regulus, please. Not now," Sirius whispered pleadingly, hoping in vain that his brother would leave with Snape and the moment would be saved. He knew what was coming. Regulus would do anything to be number one in their mother's eyes. He would tell her and life would cease to be… pleasant.

"What?" Remus couldn't help the question. Was Regulus saying what he thought he was? The boy looked down his nose at Remus and regarded him as he would a bug on his shoe.

"Your friend here is gay. But," he took in their mussed hair, tousled clothes, and Sirius' lip with disgust.

"I'm guessing you already knew that." Remus' lips formed a small 'o' before a look of fury crossed his features. He turned to Sirius.

"You gave me shit for not telling you about me but then you do the same thing?" he looked lost for words. He knew it was stupid but… for a second he'd thought they could be together. He'd seen it, their relationship, as soon as Sirius had kissed him. It could've been beautiful and wonderful and… impossible. He felt foolish now, as though Sirius had known all along. It was betrayal. Remus knew Sirius wouldn't choose him.

"Remus, no…I'm not -,"

"You're a hypocrite, Sirius," he hissed vehemently then shoved past Snape roughly, walking fast. Sirius' insides clenched horribly and he moved to go after him.

"Ah, ah, ah we're not done here," Regulus said, an oily grin on his face. Sirius turned around; his head ducked low and his jaw tight, looking for all the world like his animagus form. He approached Sirius and circled him, going in for the kill.

"Now, I'm actually going to be nice. Either you change, or I tell Mum _everything_."

"What do you mean 'everything'?"

"The motorcycle, your detentions, hanging out with blood traitors and a werewolf, becoming an animagus," he looked at Sirius, whose mouth was open wide in shock. This had to be some sick dream he was having. He pinched himself on the wrist discreetly and shut his eyes, opening them when the pressure made him bleed. How'd he find out? Only one answer came to him and he rounded on the greasy teenager smirking next to his brother.

"You _fucking_ -," he started at Snape but Regulus grabbed his wrist and spun him around.

"He has nothing to do with it. I guessed your little fuck buddy was a werewolf. What with him gone every full moon it wasn't hard," he sneered, proud of himself. Sirius cursed, he'd have to do everything. If Regulus told Walburga about Remus and him she'd throw him out, not that he really cared about that, but she'd tell all of the parents about Remus' lycanthropy which meant that all the students would know as well. His heart sank as he pictured Remus' utter humiliation.

Then a thought struck him and he smiled winningly.

"There's a just a teensy little problem with that, little brother," he said happily. He watched as Regulus' smile faltered and he gave a quick glance at Snape who shrugged.

"What's that?"

"You've no proof, you git. Who's going to believe you?" He was taken aback when his brother smiled and held up a picture, Sirius looked at it. It had to have been taken only a few moments ago, even though now it felt worlds away, of Remus and himself snogging on the floor almost violently, the two figures looking happy and carefree. Sirius bit his lip, the pain from his Remus inflicted cut a reminder: he was caught.

"So what do you want me to do?" he asked, finally defeated.

"I want you to leave Severus alone for the rest of the year, and I want to see you dating… a girl. Also, if I catch wind of you and that _scum_ together, the picture and an extremely detailed and heart wrenching letter about how upset and confused said situation made me feel, all get owled to Mummy Dearest." Sirius raised an eyebrow sardonically.

"Seriously? That's it?" Regulus' confidence visibly faltered.

"Yeah, why?" Anything else he might've said was drowned out by Sirius' laughter. He was bent over, crying with mirth. Severus and Regulus looked at each other, confused. Sirius stood up, still giggling.

"That's… that's your big _challenge_? Get a _girlfriend_?" he burst into more hysterics and stumbled over to Regulus, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh… wow Reggie, that's…that's gonna be _tough_," he tried to keep a straight face but broke on the last word. Snape seemed to have realized just how lame their threat was but didn't say anything. If Sirius stayed true to his word and if what he'd heard was true, he wouldn't be tortured for the rest of the year and that was all he cared about. And, he admitted, it would be interesting to watch the Gryffindor go after girls he didn't even like with a gay, angry werewolf after him. He almost smiled… almost.

"Fine, Reg. I'll play your stupid little blackmail game but don't think I'll just lay down for you. I found out what you did, too," he whispered the last part tauntingly and sauntered away, still bursting into gales of laughter occasionally. Snape turned to Regulus who stood frozen to the spot.

"What did I do? How do you know about that?! Siri!" he called after him, reduced finally to the scared and eclipsed younger sibling he was, but Sirius just waved over his shoulder and laughed.

"What'd you do?" Snape asked. Regulus dropped his shoulders.

"I'm not… I don't… know."

__

Sirius turned the corner and stopped laughing. Even though he'd gotten used to acting indifferent to Regulus' taunts, that time had been hard. He should never have kissed Remus. If he had just stopped flirting for once in his life Regulus never would've gotten the picture and he and Remus could've just walked away and continued snogging in a broom closet somewhere. He found, however, that he didn't regret kissing Remus in the least. In fact, it had been the single most wonderful moment of his life the more he thought about it. He'd never felt that amount of love and passion and pure, unadulterated need before. That sort of thing was pretty repressed at Grimmauld Place.

Now, Remus was furious and James would find out why and yell at him and meddle and… he was tired. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep though, not with Remus in the bed adjacent to him.

He found the common room deserted and went straight up to the dorm. He heard the unmistakable sound of the drawings around Remus' bed snap closed and he sighed. This was gonna be rough.

**A/N:** Great Googly Moogly, Batman, it is late! Sorry for the inordinate length and ridiculous amounts of angst and teenage confusion in this one. Don't worry; it's getting to me too. I promise a shit load of fluff and rainbows and overall joy-ness in the next chapter. Thank you to all of my gorgeous reviewers! Y'all really motivate me to write no matter what you may think. Oh! I'm just throwing this out there but if there's anything you think might work in the coming chapters let me know! I'm not asking for muse loans or anything but if there's anything I can do to make the story better let me know and I'll see what I can do. Reviewers get yummy mental cupcakes!


	4. Guard Dog and Wolfy Instincts

**A/N:** Contrary to popular belief, I have _not_ fallen off the face of the earth. Sorry for the slightly longer than usual update time but I was suffering from a teeny tiny case of writer's block. I was kind of mad at myself for writing the last chapter like I did just because I wanted some RL/SB snogging action with not a clue as to where I was going with this story. I literally wrote three versions of this (one of them included kind of violent smuttiness…cough…yeah…). I finally forced myself to sit down and outline how I wanted the story to go and, even though I hate doing that, I feel fairly confident in what I want to happen now. Direction is a good thing, my people. Oh! And (sheepish grin) I know I promised fluff and rainbows and joyness but I had to take my writer's block out somehow so there is quite a bit of angst (just be glad it's not the violent smut, kay?). Just look at the big picture and you'll find the hidden fluff. Read on, my darlings!

**Disclaimer:** The whole Harry Potter series would cease to be child appropriate if I owned it. Also, I wouldn't be living in some castle in Scotland somewhere hoarding my brilliant creativity and there'd definitely be a Marauder's prequel but…I digress. I own nothing.

**Suggested Listening: **Happiness is overrated by The Airborne Toxic Event (for the first part where Remus is all broody) and/or White Demon Love Song by The Killers (when it gets heavier. You'll know what I mean when you get to it).

**Chapter 4**

_Dogs never bite me. Just humans._

_-Marilyn Monroe_

Remus lay in his bed glaring at the ceiling, hoping that perhaps he'd gain laser vision like one of those Muggle Superheroes Peter was always going on about, and burn a hole through the stone above him. At least then he could take some of his anger out on _something _rather than brooding like he was now.

Remus _hated_ brooding. It made him angry, and snappy, and depressed. It also put unattractive wrinkles on his forehead that were hard to smooth out later. He growled low in his throat and rolled over, then hit his pillow when he _still_ couldn't sleep. This was all his fault! If he had just been able to not touch Sirius for once in his life and keep it in his pants a little longer they would've been peachy. They both could've walked away, friendly and fine with their friendship still intact. It was just that Sirius' skin looked so smooth and his hair was so soft and his hips felt _so_ –

He stopped himself when his pajama bottoms started getting tighter and reminded his body that he was supposed to be mad. _Yes_, he thought. _Angry…positively…furious…DAMMIT! _He rolled over on his stomach to stop his traitorous teenage hormones from getting the better of him and banged his head on the headboard a few times before taking a deep, calming breath.

_Sirius would've told you eventually, _he told himself. He'd only told James, his best mate in the whole world, today. _You shouldn't have expected to have been told before him; that was foolish._ Besides, while Sirius was a very dramatic person, it often took him a while to submit to change but once he did he committed. The boy was nothing but loyal, after all. This, Remus supposed, was why he wanted him so much. When Sirius loved someone he loved _hard_ and, in a way, the wolf-boy yearned for that kind of love. Perhaps he should just let his anger go.

_Still_, his small voice said, _you shouldn't have to have heard it secondhand from someone like Regulus. _He had to admit the voice had a point. The fact that he, Remus, had gone to such extremes to conceal the truth about his sexuality from Sirius before he was ready to tell him, so Sirius, in affect wouldn't hear it from others, scratched against his brain like a cheese grater.

_No good deed goes unpunished, lovely. _His Mother's voice floated to his mind like an eerie specter of memory. She'd spoken those very words to him when he'd come home bleeding at about the age of nine. He'd seen a small, stray dog on the side of the road and when he'd picked it up the poor thing had shivered and whimpered hysterically until finally biting him on the arm. He'd dropped it and it had run away in terror, sensing what he was and feeling threatened.

He swore to never pick up another animal after that. He snorted quietly, as he realized this was probably why he was such rubbish at Care of Magical Creatures.

Animals…Dogs…_Sirius._ Back at square one. He rolled over and tried to somehow make his eyes evolve so he could see through the curtains. There was a grunt of frustration from the bed next to him and Remus smiled in satisfaction. At least Sirius was having trouble sleeping, too. There was a groan of mattress springs and the sound of someone padding across the floor before his hangings were pulled back.

Remus sat up and looked at Sirius who was standing there in boxers and an old Sex Pistols shirt, his hair untidy and without style for once. He looked like a cross between a sad puppy and a model for scruffy pajamas.

"Moony," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

The werewolf studied him for a moment and rolled his eyes, patting the spot on the bed next to him. Sirius smiled a little and sat down next to him as Remus folded his arms.

"What do you want, Sirius?" The boy took a deep breath, accidentally inhaling Sirius' smell in the mean time. He held back a moan – he smelled like hair gel and cinnamon; musky and sexual. The wolf in him whined wantingly when it caught the underlying scent of dog. He quelled it though, remembering he was supposed to be angry.

"I couldn't sleep with you being mad at me," he said in a downcast voice, looking like an animal that'd been kicked.

"Well then I suppose you won't be sleeping much tonight," Remus said coldly. Sirius flinched and his frown deepened.

"Moony, I'm so sorry. I'm an idiot. All I do is fuck everything up between us time and time again, yearly even, please forgive me." Remus laid back down, his lips pursed as he thought over Sirius' words carefully. He knew his not-quite-friend-at-the-moment was referring to last year's prank on Snape and he didn't appreciate the memory being brought back to gasp for oxygen at the surface. It had taken James' beating Sirius to a bloody mess for him to finally apologize to Remus and end the tension. Remus blinked as he realized something.

"What happened to all of your bleeding pride from last year? I thought you 'didn't apologize'."

"Yeah well," here Sirius had the decency to look properly abashed.

"Prongs sort of beat the temporary pureblood idiocy out of me," he brightened for a moment, then:

"In fact, my jaw still clicks when it rains," he worked it slightly and Remus had to stifle a laugh when it did, indeed, click. Sirius pulled an exaggeratedly pained face and Remus couldn't hold it back any longer; he laughed. It wasn't particularly loud or amused but it was a laugh and it made Sirius grin.

"So, what? Every time you bollocks something up I have to get prongs to hit you, is that it?" Sirius nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Remus struggled to push back a sigh. He didn't like to sigh – it made him feel old.

"So…does this mean we're all fine and groovy then?" the animagus asked hopefully. At this, Remus lost the small amount of mirth he had gained in the last seconds.

"Sirius," he made sure he held the boy's eyes before continuing. This held the potential of disaster but he surged on, the words tumbling out quickly and unexpectedly from the usually poised ex-prefect's mouth.

"I…I _really _like you. We kissed no, we _snogged_. I know you do that with anything with a pulse but I – it meant something to me and I don't want a relationship unless…unless you're ready," he stopped, making sure he'd been heard. Sirius sat frozen and his eyes had gone odd.

Before coming over to talk to Remus he'd decided to pretend the whole thing was a mistake – kissing, flirting…lusting – to not hurt him. He had to protect Remus from his brother no matter what the emotional cost. He'd have to date some silly girl and even though he knew it might kill his friend, he'd be safe with his secret.

_Big picture,_ he told himself, _big, big picture._

Now though, Remus was confessing to him his inner most feelings, a feat he knew wasn't easy for the boy, and he'd have to reject him. _Leave it to Moony to complicate things_, he thought sadly. A pang of hatred for Snape and Regulus made bile rise violently in his throat but he choked it back.

He looked at Remus, all wide eyes and tawny baby bird hair, and for the first (and certainly not last) time in his life wanted to murder his brother. He loathed feeling helpless like this when all he wanted was to clutch his friend to him and show him his feelings were returned. Lying to Remus, or any friend for that matter, went against everything he held true about himself.

_Protect_, his instinct reminded him gravely and he set his jaw before raising his eyebrows in a show of mock surprise. So he'd act the flamboyant, clueless, playboy, a role he was scarily familiar with, to preserve Remus' dignity.

"Oh, um Moony," he rubbed the back of his neck in a show of nervousness.

"I thought you knew." He watched as Remus' anxiety turned to wary suspicion. He narrowed his eyes.

"Thought I knew what?" he asked slowly.

"That… you know, snogging," he smiled disbelievingly at Remus' blank look, his heart breaking at what he was about to say, literally making his ribcage feel like it was cracking, crumbling to powder and puncturing his lungs. He took a deep breath but kept the boyish smile in place.

"It's _just _snogging. I didn't think you would misconstrue it as me wanting a relationship. I'm sorry you did, though."

Remus exhaled in a soft and broken _whoosh_ of air, looking as if he'd just been slapped and his thoughts racing, the same two words floating to the front of his mind every couple of seconds.

_Of course._

_Naïve._

He had nothing else. All of the words in his vast vocabulary escaped him. He felt ashamed; embarrassed. He should've known. He'd been foolish to even _dream_ –

He looked at Sirius who was still grinning with the air of someone who'd just witnessed someone very stupid overreact at a rather petty and well known piece of information, and he wanted to cry. The urge took him by surprise. He hadn't wanted to cry since he'd found out his friends had become animagi for him and that had been three years ago. He blinked very hard and very fast to make it go away, lest Sirius think of him as any more of a joke than he already did.

He realized Sirius was waiting for a response and he lifted his head up from looking at his hands.

"It's – no, it's fine, Sirius. Don't… don't even - ," he started to stutter but stopped short. There was something in the adjacent boy's eyes; something too reminiscent of the look they had when he lied to McGonagall. He clenched his jaw. This was wrong. Sirius wasn't telling him something and he was angry again.

"You know what? No. It's not fine," he glared determinedly at Sirius who'd momentarily lost his flashing smile and instead looked somewhat frightened. The wolf noted his fear with pleasure and for once Remus did nothing to stop it.

"W-what?" Sirius fumbled for words as Remus put his face close enough to his so he could feel his breath against him.

"What did Regulus say to you after I left, Sirius?" he asked threateningly.

"Nothing! He just…taunted me and threatened to tell Wally about it, is all," he fabricated, all too aware of Remus and how the boy was practically in his lap, his warm lips mere centimeters away. He wanted to capture them, make them bruise but suddenly Remus was kissing his softly. There was no edge like there'd been before in the corridor, only sweetness and Sirius slowly kissed back, just enjoying the sensation of velvet skin on his. He knew he'd given up his façade but he didn't care. Just as long as Remus kissed him there was no Regulus or Snape or purebloods and half breeds – just them.

He bit back a whine of protest when Remus pulled away, not ready for the kiss to be over.

"I know you're lying," Remus whispered, his yellow eyes seeming to reflect the darkness with knowing iridescence. He gazed at Sirius, taking in his conflicted, handsome features for a while before speaking again.

"And I don't care. Just know that when you're done fucking everything up I'll be waiting." Sirius winced at Remus' curse word, not used to hearing it out of his proper friend's mouth but smiled slightly.

"Now budge over, it's three A.M. and full moon's in two weeks," Remus grinned, letting his friend know he was okay for now. Sirius laughed and shook his head before doing as he was told and sliding under the covers, his ankles finding their way to twine around Remus'. There were a few beats of relaxed silence, then:

"Hey, Moony?"

Mm-hm, Padfoot?" Remus answered groggily.

"We're…_okay_, right?" he asked cautiously. He heard Remus sigh exasperatedly.

"No," he said in a tone that flirted with finality. Sirius' heart sank for what seemed the millionth time that night. He nuzzled his face in the back of Remus' head, trying to soak everything about him up before he commenced in hurting them both the next day. It was reassuring in a broken way. Remus twisted his neck slightly to look up at him from the side.

"But we will be."


	5. Disgruntled Author's Note

**A/N: **Hey guys, bad news I'm afraid. It seems Microsoft Word likes to screw with people and apparently they've screwed with me.

Here I am trying to be a good updater and nice person and Word up and freezes on me because I apparently only had a trial version of the stupid piece of shit. Do I sound pissed? Good.

Anyways, I'm writing on notepad right now and I'm not sure if it will work but I'm going to try and update just using this. I'm sorry in advance if my writing is crappier than usual because of it but what can you do?

Updates may be slow in coming but I promise you that I am not giving up on this story…the puppies won't let me.

Thank you all for being such patient, and awesome reviewer people! You've been so amazingly awesometastic and I love you for it!

Hang in here with me,

Princessxofxthexasylum


	6. Unmixy Things and a Violent Ginger

**A/N: **Hehe…so, sorry for my little temper tantrum back there but I've had one hell of a week let me tell ya. I also have a huge vocab test tomorrow that I am not studying for because I've deemed writing about adolescent gay wizards much more important on my list of things to do. I'm also sorry for any and all grammatical/spelling errors. It's late and I figured you guys would much rather an imperfect chapter up quicker rather than a completely pristine one put up a week from now. Also, I plan on introducing a few OC's later on (no Mary Sues though, I promise! I hate them!). If anyone objects to this, sorry! I wouldn't do it if I felt it wasn't necessary.

And (cough cough) I know I mentioned some violent smut writing on my part, which I should've realized was a mistake, seeing as I got many reviews regarding the desperate need for said violence and smut. No promises, but I am _very seriously _considering changing the rating on this to M so I can include it. I just want to make sure I don't lose some of my readers who would rather I didn't. So, I am requesting that if you really wouldn't mind some hot boy smexiness, let me know and I'll write it in. It wouldn't be really heavy if I did (mainly because it takes me about hmm…a _bajillion million _rewrites to be happy with the result) so just drop me a review with your opinion. Sorry that this was so long, too! Read on!

**Disclaimer: **Not mine! (Cooking Mama anyone? Anyone? Hello? …Just me then…)

**Suggested Listening: **You and I Both by Jason Mraz (It's the perfect Lily/James song in my opinion).

_Between men and women, there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship._

- Oscar Wilde

**Chapter 5**

James looked up slowly from his Charms book with what he hoped was a surreptitious glance at Lily Evans. The girl was sitting with Alice in front of the empty fireplace talking heatedly about something. He figured it was him because she was tossing her hair quite a bit and her green eyes had gone sharp like they would right before she was about to hex him. She turned slightly to glare at him and her eyes narrowed when she realized he'd been looking at her. He smiled winningly and ruffled the back of his hair nervously before going back to pretending to study.

Sirius, who was leaning against James' legs on the floor had witnessed the whole thing and failed at repressing a snort of laughter at the exchange.

"Nice one, Prongs," he said sarcastically before letting out a yelp when James' legs disappeared from behind him and his back thumped hard against the front of the armchair.

"_Ow_, fucking prat," he said as he turned to James who was laughing with his legs pulled up.

"Sorry, I forgot your back must already be hurting from last night with Moony," he snickered. Sirius tensed at the comment like a dog sensing a rabbit.

"James, I highly suggest you shut your fat mouth before you experience bodily harm done to your person with violent glee and happiness." There was quiet for a few moments and Sirius went back to reading. He' assumed James had done so as well. Then:

"So…who was on the bottom?"

Sirius sprung and James yelled as the armchair toppled with the force of the boy's pounce. He knew Sirius didn't really care about the comment but he understood how, after a whole day of him and Remus getting teased by himself and Peter about finding the two in the same bed that morning, it could get annoying.

The best friends wrestled, tossing each other about the common room with the occasional burst of Sirius' triumphant laughter when he'd gain the upper hand for a fleeting second. None of the other Gryffindors paid them much attention, except for a few of the firsties, but even they had grown all too used to the boys' antics by this time in the year.

"You. Know. Full well. That nothing. Happened. Last. Night," Sirius punctuated every word with pounding James' shoulders on the floor roughly. James groaned in pain and flipped them so his knees were pinning Sirius' arms down.

"I _do _know. I also know that you're in _love_ with Moony," he said laughing before Sirius grabbed him around the throat and threw him on the floor next to him, his beater strength overpowering James' seeker speed.

"Don't talk about things you don't know, Prongsie," he hissed threateningly through clenched teeth before throwing a halfhearted punch at James who caught it with ease.

"Oh, hit a nerve, have I?" he taunted. He quickly lost his teasing expression when Sirius smiled evilly and started to dangle a string of saliva above James' face.

"No. Oh Merlin, no. Sirius, please! You win, already!" he pleaded desperately, watching the spit warily, pinned and helpless. There was a soft clearing of someone's throat from above them and the two boys looked up.

"Black, as much as I enjoy seeing Potter beg for the sake of his personal hygiene, kindly get off him," Lily demanded, her arms crossed. Sirius glared at her and wiped the spit off his face. However he didn't move fast enough for James, who threw Sirius off of him and accidentally kicked him in the stomach in his haste to talk to Lily.

"Hey, Evans," he greeted her, his voice suddenly more deep and manly despite the fact he'd been pinned under his friend not a moment ago. She rolled her eyes at him and bit her lip, unsure. She wanted to help Remus and when she'd caught James stalking her with his eyes, an idea had popped into her head. It'd seemed fine at the time but then he and Black had started acting like five year olds and she began to second guess herself.

"Look Potter, I have to talk to you about something," James blinked in ill disguised shock, then grinned.

"Finally decided to give in to my illustrious charms, Evans?" he waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. Sirius slapped a hand to his forehead in disappointment at his friend's skill with girls. No one was surprised when Lily raised her hand to slap him but she closed her eyes and pulled away at the last minute, seeming to hold herself back with every ounce of strength she possessed. Sirius narrowed his eyes at her.

Something wasn't right. Lily _never_ spoke to James of her own volition, nor had she ever stopped mid-abuse before. He looked at James, who seemed too deliriously in love to notice anything about of the ordinary. Then Lily sighed.

"So erm…can we, er, _talk_?" she asked awkwardly. James opened his mouth to speak, a dewy grin plastered to his face, then turned to look at Sirius who nodded vigorously.

"Anything you want, Lily-Flower." Lily clenched her fists at the nickname but forced a small smile. Her eyes flickered to Sirius and she squirmed uneasily.

"Um…." Sirius rolled his eyes and stood up, his side still throbbing slightly from James' kick.

"I can take a hint, Evans. I'm not as thick as you believe me to be." Lily opened her mouth to protest but Sirius held up a hand and grinned mischievously.

"No, no. I'll let you two lovebirds go 'talk'," he made quotation marks with his hands and laughed as he dodged a quick hex from Lily.

"Move, Black! Or I swear I'll vanish you hair again," her voice low and scary.

"You wouldn't," he sneered at her bravely but flinched and covered his precious hair protectively when she brandished her wand at him.

"I'm not beneath repeating curses so_ don't tempt me_!" she warned, her green eyes flashing.

"_Fine!"_

"Fine!" Sirius turned on his heel and stormed up to the dorm, subconsciously playing with his hair as though he was making sure it was still there. Lily huffed angrily and turned to James who looked confused.

"Er…Lily?" he asked, slightly afraid of her. He 'd witnessed her wrath one too many times to not be.

"Yes?" He furrowed his brows in a look of confused concentration.

"Why are you talking to me? Not that I'm complaining or anything!" he added hastily, then shrugged.

"Just…what's going on?" Lily softened at his puzzled expression. She really didn't give him enough credit. He'd changed over the last few years and was nowhere near the disgustingly conceited idiot he'd been last year. Plus, saving Severus from Remus had changed her attitude towards him somewhat. Of course, she'd never let him know that, lest she risk his head exploding.

"Okay," she took a deep breath, still not believing she was doing this.

"You know about Remus' er…sexual preferences, yes?" the red head said, all too aware that James' almost smile was due to her stodgy choice of vocabulary. He didn't say anything, just nodded instead. It gave her courage and made the fact that if James didn't go for her idea, her promise to Remus was basically screwed and she was way too stubborn to let that happen.

"Well…he sort of likes Sirius and I promised him I'd get them together by the end of the year and I need your help," she quickly got the last part out, figuring it was like ripping a band aid off - it had to be quick for it to be as painless as possible. She then realized that this must be a myth that Mother's taught their children in order for them to stop crying long enough for them to tear the thing off, as James was staring at her with his mouth hanging open in shock. Of course, she actually preferred it to his usual I'm-undressing-you-with-my-eyes look but it still made the regularly calm girl feel just as awkward. She coughed and James bobbed his mouth a few times, trying to speak.

"H-how did you know Sirius is gay?" he blurted out in a hoarse whisper.

"SIRIUS IS GA -mmph!" the rest of her exclamation was muffled by James' hand on her mouth and she quickly wrenched it away, surprised he'd dared to touch her.

"Shh, I'm the only one who's supposed to know," he looked over her shoulders to see the whole common room starting at them. He grinned and made a shooing motion with his hands before leading her over to an unoccupied area of the room.

"Bloody busy-bodies…," he mumbled before turning back to Lily who looked slightly abashed.

"Sorry."

"S'okay," he brushed off. There was an awkward pause then Lily spoke.

"So…Sirius is gay?" James nodded slowly, wondering how she'd take it and preparing himself to launch into a defensive tirade if she began to slander his best friend, even though he highly doubted she'd do such a thing. In fact, he had to hand it to her, the girl definitely knew ho to roll with the punches. And, he amended, had the ability to look beautiful and unfairly stunning as she did so.

Lily took a deep breath and studied James. She knew he was loyal to a fault and would defend his friends no matter what they were but at the same time, she wondered if he thought it was a reflection on him, having befriended two gay not quite men. He ruffled his hair nervously and grinned handsomely at a third year who seemed like a wanna be eavesdropper. The girl blushed and quickly started whispering to her friends heatedly. Lily rolled her eyes and her doubts were washed away. James had obviously picked up a few things from Sirius, one of them his apparently dangerous effect on the female population. The thought gave her an idea.

"Actually, this simplifies things. Sirius is such a whore -."

"Hey! That's my best mate you're talking about!" he yelled loyally. Lily raised her eyebrows at his tone and he quickly looked down at his feet.

"Sorry, but this is kind of weird for me," he looked up again and half smiled at her, just happy that she wanted to plan thing (especially sneaky things) with him of all people.

"I know, but we have to try," she said encouragingly, then took out a small notebook from her pocket.

"Now, I've decided that we shouldn't force -" She stopped as James snorted derisively.

"Please, this is Remus and Sirius we're talking about. They're hopelessly obtuse when it comes to this sort of thing. Force may actually be necessary. Lily, I really don't know about this," he said uneasily, his first seed of disbelief starting to make him edgy. Lily put her hand son her hips and stared James down, even though he knew he was taller than her he suddenly felt rather tiny and insignificant.

"Listen, Potter," she hissed, her tone icy. "I made Remus a promise that I'd help him and I fully intend to keep it. It doesn't matter if you're willing to help me or not. I just thought that when they're living happily ever after you'd like to be able to say you had a hand in it. Now, as I see it, you can do one of two things. Do this with me and raise the probability of success, or I try to figure all this out on my own and most likely fail. Which will it _be_?" she finished, her voice slipping down into a scarier and much more strained octave that made James gulp and lean against the wall, suddenly reminded of just how much Lily could terrify him. Something occurred to him then.

"Wait, how do you even know if Sirius likes Remus back?" At this, Lily stepped away from him, aware of how they'd almost been nose-to-nose. She cleared her throat and smiled, pleased with herself for being a step ahead of the game. She waved her notebook at him.

"That's where you come in. _I_ already _know_ Remus likes Sirius and I can talk to him about it and persuade him to do things that will help this along, but Sirius and I," she wrinkled her nose, looking lost for words and grimacing only slightly.

"Don't mix?" James offered.

"Precisely."

"So, let me get this straight," he plopped down on one of the chairs that no one rarely used (because it smelled bad and was growing the slightest bit of mold on one of the wings) with one leg propped up lazily on one of the arms like an exhausted and perplexed king who was pondering the state of his kingdom.

"You want _us _play matchmaker between two of _my _best friends. You want _me _to figure out whether Sirius is hot for Remus _and _on top of it all, you want me to take _notes_?" Lily nodded, aware that when put so neatly her idea did have the sound of something ludicrous. James took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation, before looking up at her wearily.

"You are _so_ lucky I love you." Lily's eyes widened and she felt her face flush unexpectedly. It wasn't the first time he'd told her so but it had yet to fail in making her feel uncomfortable that she would never be able to return the sentiment.


	7. Cynosures and Split Personalities

**A/N: **Hello my lovely Readers/Reviewers! Sorry, if the wait's been too long but meh, what can you do? I've been super busy with exams and such and finding the time to write has been a little tough. I was going to write this down earlier but I got distracted by Lady Gaga's video of Alejandro (dancing Hitlers! I ask you!). Anyways, I would like to give a shout out to **lotv39** for her enthusiastic Review that actually made me force myself to get off my ass and type (as much as I despise it...). I also love how one teeny tiny mention of smut makes you all turn into rabid perves (but in a good way so don't be offended). I will be putting it in I just don't know when or where but I promise you it'll be there...someday.

So, without further ado, I give you...CHAPTER 6!

**Disclaimer: **My Friend and I were actually seriously planning out ways we could force J.K. to write a prequel...then we realized they all sounded vaguely like the story line to Misery...(cough). Yeah, it's not mine (sob).

**Suggested Listening: **Weakdays by Young and Divine

_Oh, I'm gonna be wounded._

_Oh, I'm gonna be your wound._

_Oh, I'm gonna bruise you._

_Oh, I'm gonna be your bruise._

_Just too unreal all this..._

-The Word of Your Body, Spring Awakening

**Chapter 6**

Sirius decided that Wednesdays were evil. They were a silly ploy to get you to be optimistic because you only had two days left before the weekend. When, in reality, you had forty eight hours until the weekend. Forty Eight Hours was a long time to wait. _One_ hour was a long time to wait when the weekend was Forty Eight away. Therefore, _too_ long for one Sirius Black.

_Especially,_ he thought, _when you had to find someone to date that you weren't even into in the first place and would just have to hurt in the end anyway, to make room for the ultimately better prize. _He blinked at the admittedly convoluted sentence he'd just produced and shook his head, stealing a look at Remus, who as usual, had his rather fetching head buried in a book. He still had no idea if Remus was mad at him or not, however the forced cheerfulness he was putting forth made Sirius think it was the former.

Remus Lupin was inscrutable when it came to matters of the emotional sort. It was impossible to scrute him. It couldn't be done. Then he wondered if you could _scrute _anyone. Yes, he decided. Also, was it possible to be _sheveled_? He imagined that if you could be _dis_sheveled you could also be _sheveled_ and what about - ?

He stopped himself.

It was early.

He sighed hugely into his oatmeal, earning a concerned look from the other three boys and a few hopeful looking girls.

"It's been a long day," he said mournfully and James laughed, both at a girl who sighed longingly at his friend's voice and at Sirius' exclamation. He shook his head. The fact that anyone would moon over his flamboyant best friend, no matter how nice his hair looked, baffled him.

"Pads, it's seven AM. You're eating breakfast," he looked pointedly at Sirius' untouched oatmeal.

"_And?_" Sirius blinked up at his best friend with a blank look.

"_And _the day's just started."

"Nooo! It's too much," he whined, burying his head in his hands pathetically. James rolled his eyes, knowing it would be one of those days. Remus caught his look and grimaced. Sirius would be the dramatic cynosure today, he knew, to grab the attention of _someone_, usually a girl. It stung, there was no way he could pretend it didn't, and he took a bite of toast to hide his frown.

He'd told Sirius he didn't care and wouldn't push but, he looked up at him through his bangs just in time to see him talk up some blonde, sometimes he wanted nothing more than to drag him into an empty broom closet and have his way with him. He bit his lip at the thought and smiled. Sirius would go with it too, which made the idea all the more painful.

Before he'd told Sirius about liking him, he'd liked to fantasize about what their relationship might be like. He'd liked it being his own little secret that he could tuck away as soon as someone walked into the room. Then Lily, determined thing that she was, had weasled it out of him and it'd morphed into this whole ordeal.

_Well, it was nice while it lasted,_ he mused with his chin resting in his palm.

Peter nudged him in the side and pointed to Sirius. Remus groaned and wished he hadn't. the blonde from before had somehow made her way onto Sirius' lap and was snaking her arms around his neck with a triumphant smile on her lips.

He clenched his fists under the table when he recognized her - Nancy Sincavage, a sixth year Ravenclaw know for bbeing especially promiscuous. She'd been trying to get into Sirius' pants since their fifth year but he'd always said she was too sleazy for him. Now, Remus assumed he'd take anything to get the werewolf taste out of his mouth.

_No,_ he thought,_ Sirius wasn't like that. _That kind of thinking was poisonous and Remus knew it. Sirius had been the first to accept him for what he was. Sirius was...just making sure he wasn't gay. He'd get it all out of his system and then they could be happy and Lily would leave him alone and they'd all laugh about this later...

Nancy was sticking her tongue down Sirius' throat and he was running his hands through her fake, platinum blonde hair eagerly, just happy that all eyes were on him at at last.

James was watching his best friend in shock and gave a nervous laugh. Lily looked ready to happily murder both Sirius and Nancy. Peter was flicking his eyes nervously between James and Remus, as though trying to decided how he should react, then gave up and just ate his bacon before starting to hum to himself.

Remus watched them, a lump of anger stuck in his throat. This was ridiculous! Sirius didn't really expect him to just...how could they-?

His eyes started to water against his will and he blinked them away, too aware of Lily watching him concernedly, and Sirius was laughing and he wanted to rip him and that Sodding Harlot to shreds and Peter's humming was off key and -

He slammed his hands on the table, grabbed his things and walked out, the current situation too much for him to handle.

What was he _playing _at? Sirius knew Nancy was the sluttiest harpy to ever walk through Hogwart's doors. She was loud, and whiney, and clingy and...Remus' exact opposite. The thought stopped him in his tracks and probably _would've _knocked him breathless if at that exact moment someone else hadn't; bumping into him and scattering poor, defenseless books everywhere. The thought making Remus wince and set a headache throbbing just under his right eye. The person muttered an apology and they both bent down to retrieve the fallen texts.

"Bloody hell, sorry about that. I just overslept and was rushing and wasn't looking and...hey! You're Remus Lupin, right?" The voice, Remus now realized, was male and he sighed ready to accept the apology wearily, with maybe a bit of snark because really his day was bad enough already _without _precious books being thrown about -

"Unfortunately I _am_, and you should probably watch where you're..." he looked up and was met with a pair of the bluest eyes he'd ever seen in his short life.

"Going," he finished feebly and looked down before his face could betray the stupid poncy blush that had suddenly appeared. The boy laughed and stood up, offering Remus a hand which he instinctively took.

And immediately regretted when he saw the wavy blonde hair, tan skin, and slightly crooked nose that matched an oh so _adorable _and equally crooked smile that went with the almost violet eyes. The boy unclasped his hand and Remus had to remind himself to close his mouth. Why hadn't he noticed _him_ before?

"Yeah, sorry about that again," he said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and glancing at Remus from under his lashes.

Somewhere in the back of his mind a little minature version of himself, the one that was always in constant conflict with the wolf, was kicking his brain in an effort to snap the boy back to his senses.

_Pull it together, Lupin._

"Right, er, yeah, no...it's okay I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped," he babbled and the wolf nudged him.

_If only I _could _have a snap at him, if you know what I mean_, he whispered lecherously.The thought made Remus bite his lip longingly, resulting inThe Little Remus promptly bitch slapping the Wolf and thus beginning a wrestling match of epic proportions in his mind. This was _not_ helping his headache. At All.

"Think nothing of it," the object of the wrestling match brushed off. "I'm Charlie by the way. Charlie Watson." Remus managed a smile and offered his hand, shifting his books.

"I'm Remus. But I guess you knew that," he laughed slightly and Charlie laughed with him, then brightened.

"Hey, aren't we in History of Magic together?" he asked, cocking his head to the side and looking very much like a happy golden retiever finding another dog he could play with that lived down the street.

_He _would_ be fun to play with, wouldn't he?_ The Wolf purred seductively while being bound to a chair by Little Remus, who it seemed had won. Little Remus sighed and shook his head before pulling a roll of duct tape out of his back pocket and slapping a strip of it onto the wolf's mouth forcefully.

Remus half smiled at the image in his head and briefly wondered if hanging around Sirius had actually resulted in some of his ancestral crazy being rubbed off on him. He had to admit the wolf had a point. Charlie _did _seem play worthy, if looks and less than five minutes of talking were anything to go by.

"Yeah! But you probably wouldn't have seen my face. I'm usually the one snoring loudly in the corner." Remus laughed at the self deprecating remark.

"You and ninety percent of the class," he joked and Charlie smiled, showing a full row of white teeth.

"Well it looks like I have an excuse to stay awake now," he said, looking Remus up and down before biting his bottom lip and grinning broadly. Remus felt his eyes widen at the remark and The Wolf stopped using the duct tape as a garrote on Little Remus so they could both stare blankly at each other in stunned silence. Remus started to stutter a reply but then he heard quick footsteps and the smell of cherries and parchment and he turned.

"Remus I'm sorry! He's an absolute bloody, sodding prick who needs a swift kick up the arse with a hobnailed boot and -," Lily stopped her rant when she noticed Charlie standing there with an eyebrow raised and the promise of a smile making his lips twitch.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize -," she said, flustered and red faced as she tried to be polite while her temper was ready to burst. Charlie seemed to sense this and flashed a friendly smile.

"Not at all. I'll see you at History, Remus!" he waved goodbye as he jogged away effortlessly towards the Great Hall despite the number of books he was carrying. The two friends watched him leave; Remus with a look of amused disbelief and Lily with her head tilted to the side, mouth open. There was a beat of silence, then:

"That was..."

"Michael Angelo's David come to life?" Lily guessed, blinking rapidly. Remus laughed.

"Charlie Watson, apparently."

"Oh," Lily shook her head and turned to Remus, a confused look on her face.

"What's he want with you?" she asked a little indignantly and Remus rolled his eyes, grabbing her hand and walking towards their first class as the bell rang and everyone started to file out of the Great Hall. _Hopefully me_, The Wolf said dazedley and Little Remus kicked the chair it was tied to over.

"No idea," he shrugged and Lily continued to wax poetic about ways in which she could make Sirius Black writhe in agonizing torture for all eternity for his little display at breakfast. Remus smiled and nodded politely at her plans when expected to.

So far, he'd been heartbroken, angry, in pain, forced to listen to his split personalities fight in his head, and shamelessly hit on...and first period hadn't even started yet. He sighed as he sat down in Charms, listening to Sirius and James argue about the dubious extinction of dinosaurs ("Uncle Alphard saw one in Russia last year, James!") and banged his head against the desk a few times.

It'd been a long day.

**A/N: **Well, there you are. Sorry if this got a bit silly twoards the end but I'm getting tired of drama (as much as I love it!). Please Review! You will be rewarded with shiney accessories if you do (not really but let's just go with that).

Not really sure when the next chapter will be up. I totally went off my pre-written draft with this chapter. I like it better than what I'd originally wrote but now this means I have to rework the next five already written chapters. FUN! (sarcasm). You people are so lucky I love you.

I will be posting a new fic soon. It will be RL/SB but it will mostly consist of drabbles so don't worry! Also, the first chapter contains handjobs and Remus being a cocktease! If that's not incentive enough to read it, I don't know what is. However, I remain committed to this! TTFN, my Darlings!


	8. Remus Lupin and the Rage of the Hormones

**A/N:** Hey there, readers! I know it's been a ridiculously long waiting period for this chapter but I've started a new job and been _really _busy and for that I apologize. Also, since I wrote off book for the last chapter I've been trying to get my head together over how I now want this to go. However I think I'm on the right track now and I have the next two chapters ready. Alls I need is time to type and since I can't find any I have no idea when the next chapter will be up but I can guarantee that it most definitely _will _be up! Yay! Now...go read!

**Disclaimer: **A Disclaimer: when something is disclaimed...this definition isn't going anyhere relevent I just don't have anything clever to write. Mrs. Rowling and her affiliates own it all, I'm afraid.

**Suggested Listening: **I couldn't get a firm decision on a song so I'm just gonna say Fluorescent Adolescent by Arctic Monkeys but I may be using it again later so if you want to listen to another song go right ahead. Why is it that they're always good songs about confusion and hormones when you don't need them but when you do they disappear? Sigh...

_Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness_

_Landed in a very common crisis_

_...Oh, the boy's a slag, the best you ever had_

_the best you ever had..._

- Arctic Monkeys

Remus sat in History of Magic on Wednesday. On the same day he'd spoken to Lily. The same day Sirius Black had made a spectacle of himself at breakfast. The _same _day Remus Lupin had contemplated cheating on his relationship with the rules and transfiguring Nancy Sincavage into a bunny and making some furry underwear out of her and giving them to Peter for Christmas.

The violent thought took him by surprise and he went back to taking notes vigilantly, pausing now and then to doodle flowers and kittens in an attempt to smother his sadistic tendencies. It was almost unfair how mentally talented Sirius and James were. They could probably sleep through every class, come in to take their NEWTs and _still _be offered top jobs at the Ministry the next day. Of course, Remus liked to think he helped them out quite a bit but he was sure they'd still get by without him. He looked over to his right to see Sirius' head on the desk in a Binn's induced slumber with a line of drool dribbling down his chin in an unattractive, but still somehow adorable, way. James was in front of Sirius, in much the same position only more twitchy and muttering every once in a while. Peter, who was in front of a Ravenclaw boy with oddly familiar blonde wavy hair who was sitting in front of Remus, was staring out the window with glazed over eyes.

Remus huffed angrily, a piece of hair blowing into his eyes annoyingly. He knew they'd ask him for notes later and, for a moment, he considered witholding them. But he knew Sirius would _beg_ and look all _cute_ and his eyes would smolder in that unfair, lusty way that made Remus want to grab him and... _stop, Remus, _he told himself and images of half-naked Sirius were forced to the back of his mind. He sighed heavily and started to write again with renewed fervor, his quill sometimes piercing the page in his haste to write his anger away.

"Rough day?" He looked up to see the Ravenclaw boy in front of him turned around in his chair with a slightly lopsided smile on his face, making his blue eyes light up and twinkle in a way that made Remus want to smile back. Charlie.

"Unfortunately, yes," he sighed and looked over at Sirius, who was now swiping at his nose sleepily. The boy was even dramatic when he slept, he thought before grimacing and turning back to Charlie.

"Care to share?" he asked, shifting more in his chair so they could speak more comfortably. Remus laughed and shook his head.

"Not really...," he trailed off, not sure what to say next since he'd just obviously given away that his problems were Sirius related. Fortunately, he was saved by Filch hobbling past the open door, brandishing a rusty looking wrench at Peeves who cackled madly as he whizzed by. The class barely stirred at the commotion and Remus snorted a slight laugh while Charlie gazed at the space they'd just left with a raised eyebrow.

"You know, Filch has always -" Remus started.

"Reminded me - " Charlie continued.

"Of Joseph from Wuthering Heights!" they both finished excitedley. Remus laughed and Charlie smiled for what seemed to be the thousandth time in the last five minutes.

"It's my favorite book. I reread it every summer," he said, shyly casting Remus a look from under his lashes. He looked sheepish.

"Sorry if that sounded pretentious, I didn't mean - " But Remus had brightened. This was too good to be true. He shook his head as Charlie continued to mumble about books.

"No, no! It's actually one of my favorites, too. I know it's not very...," he struggled for a word.

"_Masculine_ to openly admit that you've read a Bronte classic but I don't blame you. Wuthering Heights is such a good story! What with all that unrequited love and frustrating characters who can't see that who they need has been right under their nose the entire time!" he stopped himself when he realized he was rambling and using hand gestures, like he sometimes did when he got started on a subject he was particularly passionate about. He folded his hands in his lap and bit his lip.

"Sorry. It's just that it's -"

"Do you want to come to Hogsmeade with me?" Charlie cut him off quickly and the bell rang. There was a clatter of noise as the students roused themselves from sleep and gathered their things, exiting the room along with Professor Binns who simply floated through the back wall, leaving Remus and Charlie alone. Remus was aware that he was staring wide eyed at the handsome boy in disbelief and he quickly looked down and mumbled. Charlie cleared his throat.

"Sorry, I'd practiced that since this morning but it came out more special ed than suave and..." he trailed off and looked up from under his mop of hair. Remus' brain had forgotten the rules of etiquette in his shock at being liked by someone other than his friends and Lily and was currently still trying to find out how to close his mouth properly. He gave up and instead tried:

"Charlie?"

"Yeah?" he looked up eagerly at the sound of Remus' voice and Remus furrowed his brows and rubbed the bcak of his neck.

"Was...Just...Just to be sure; was that you trying to ask me out?" he said. Charlie paled and swallowed but nodded anyway.

"Oh God, you're not...I'm sorry. I'd just heard that you were...and I thought...I'm sorry. I'm just gonna go before I make any more of a fool of myself today." Remus frowned as Charlie started to get up and grabbed his things. Why was he leaving? Then he realized how his question might have sounded and he scrambled out of his chair to catch up to the boy who was already halfway down the hall. He ran past Sirius, who called after him then frowned, but Remus couldn't be bothered.

"Shit. Wait, Charlie! Charlie!" he yelled after him and Charlie turned. Remus panted for a minute and put a hand on Charlie's shoulder, absently noticing how he could actually feel the muscle under it. He stopped a shudder and looked at Charlie.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like I wasn't...I mean..." he sighed at his surprising lack of words at the moment.

"Bullocks, um, look...I do like you Charlie but I'm kind of ..._promised_," he grimaced at the formality of the word.

"To someone else. But if you still want, I'd love to go to Hogsmeade with you this weekend...as friends," he tagged on the end just to make sure Charlie understood what he was trying to say. Charlie smiled, showing brilliantly white teeth nodded.

"Ok, well I guess I'll see you then. Sorry for before," he said sheepishly but Remus shook his head, still baffled that he had the power to rend someone speechless since he'd felt so differently this morning.

"Trust me I get it so don't worry about it." Charlie nodded, looking like a happy golden retriever who was just happy to have made another friend.

"Alright, well...bye!" he called over his shoulder before bounding off, and Remus was sure that if he had one, his tail would be wagging. Then he turned and saw Sirius standing down the hall with his books in one hand, looking slightly put out, but happy none the less. His heart gave a lurch at the sight of the dark haired boy, with his tie already pulled down and his sleeves rolled up, and he felt confused all over again.

**A/N: **Ok, go easy on me with this one. I wrote this completely off book but i figured you'd rather have this than have me take longer with it. Sorry in advance for any grammatical/spelling errors! Review and you will be sent lots of love!


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